Quickies: Atheist leaders, woman to appear on US $10 bill, and photos of girls working on cars

8 awesome atheist leaders who aren’t Richard Dawkins or Sam Harris – “There’s this pattern with media coverage of organized atheism. When a media outlet decides that atheism is interesting and important, they all too often turn to Dawkins or Harris. Then, when Dawkins or Harris puts their foot in their mouth — again — the reporter cries out, “Atheism needs better leadership! Why doesn’t atheism have better leaders?””

Woman to appear on $10 bill, treasury announces – “A woman will soon feature on US bank notes for the first time in 150 years after a successful campaign to celebrate the centenary of female suffrage. But the surprise decision comes with a catch: whoever is chosen will have to share the honour with a man.”

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“8 Awesome Atheist Leaders Who Aren’t Richard Dawkins or Sam Harris” is as long as its title, but an important statement on atheist leaders on the frontlines.

Noelle George’s statement perfectly encapsulated my point of view:

“No, I don’t consider myself a new atheist. I do consider myself an atheist, humanist, and a skeptic. I’m less of a firebrand atheist and more of a diplomat atheist. For me personally, that style works better and I enjoy changing people’s minds about religion based on my actions and not my words.”

I have to shamefully admit that I was once one of those people who considered the term humanist to be sort of a dodge for atheists who were uncomfortable about calling themselves that. But like Noelle, I now consider myself all of the above: atheist, skeptic, and humanist.

Indeed, it seems to me that all of the eight atheists interviewed for the article espoused humanist values. Humanism can be considered the organizing ethic of nonbelievers. If God isn’t there to right the injustices of the world (as the state of the world clearly indicates), we have no choice but to act and do it ourselves.

Some of the items in Chinese medicine (e.g., bear liver, rhinoceros horn) are also a tragedy for the environment. I suppose we could possibly convince TCM practitioners to try homeopathically diluted bear liver and save a few animals.

Yes, free trade agreements with China should strike fear into the hearts of many endangered species.

I did not know of the provisions in this particular agreement until after the fact. Do you know if the US has something similar already or in the pipeline?
For instance, the other day there was mention of the Pacific Rim treaty negotiations.

Trans-Pacific Partnership. (China’s not actually negotiating that; they already have most favored nation status.) And the whole point is that we won’t know until after the fact; it’s classified until five years after approval.

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The Skepchick Network is a collection of smart and often sarcastic blogs focused on science and critical thinking. The original site is Skepchick.org, founded by Rebecca Watson in 2005 to discuss women’s issues from a skeptical standpoint.